Messages

1.1

Sat Jul 28, 2018 11:32 am (PDT) . Posted by:

How Stress Is Making You Fat It's no secret that a stressful lifestyle is not a healthy one. When we've got a million things on our mind, it's hard to find time to think about what you eat and to figure out time to exercise. But besides our tendency towards poor choices, why does stress make us gain weight and how can we stop it before it becomes a habit? Stress can lead us to do a number of things that we normally wouldn't when we're not under pressure. One of these things may be eating anything in sight or relying on fast food because we just don't have the time.. But stress-related weight gain has many other scientific causes than just a lack of time. One of them has to do with hormones. When the body is under stress, your hormonal checks and balances are also thrown off, which may lead to lean on food for emotional support. How does this hormonal imbalance work? Cortisol, or as some call it 'the stress hormone', is a critical hormone in our bodies which controls our energy levels, how much insulin is released and maintains our blood sugar levels, all leading to an eventual increase in appetite. Yet when cortisol is in excess during times of physical or psychological stress, the normal patterns of cortisol secretion, which are usually in the early morning and at night, can be altered. The disruption of the cortisol secretion may be what cause you to put on pounds when you're stressed. The act of playing around with your hormones has more serious consequences for your nutrition and fitness regimen than you may think. By changing the pattern of cortisol secretion in your system, you are slowing down your metabolism, or the rate at which you are able to process foods and digest them. With all the excess cortisol and adrenaline in your system, your body is unable to burn calories, fats and sugars like it usually would. Instead, it stores them around your abdomen and hips for times when the body isn't as stressed and has the energy to process them. Other crucial hormones in the digestive process that are affected when one is stressed are ghrelin and leptin. These are the hormones responsible for making you feel hungry and full, respectively. When you are stressed, your body suppresses the leptin levels and increases the ghrelin levels, meaning that you are less likely to feel full and more likely to feel like a bottomless pit. This causes you to take in far more calories than you regularly would or than your body needs, making you pile on the pounds without even noticing. But chronic stress doesn't just make you feel constantly hungry, it also makes you want to eat foods that are high in sugar and fat. This is because stress is triggering intense cravings, causing you to reach for unhealthy foods like chips and chocolate, which in turn make you gain weight. When you eat these foods, you are injected with feel-good hormones that momentarily pacify your stress, creating a response that you may try to replicate later once you are feeling stressed. Instead, try to make a conscious effort of avoiding these foods and your body won't crave them. It's as simple as that! Yet another effect of the hormonal imbalance in your system as a result of stress are serious consequences for your blood sugar levels. For some, this could be a very serious issue, especially if you have diabetes or are at risk. This is because when the body is under stress it is unable to regulate your levels of insulin. The result will be extra fat stored in the body and a tendency to seek out sugary and fatty foods. As a result of unstable hormonal levels, the fat will usually go right to your abdomen and hips, which can be a discouraging sign for those that are trying to maintain their weight. If you are concerned about your weight, or have been trying to lose weight for some time, you might need to consider that a stressful lifestyle may be holding you back from fulfilling your goals. Look for ways that you can reduce stress in your life and you'll be amazed with how quickly the weight melts off and your general health improves.

Sat Jul 28, 2018 11:48 am (PDT) . Posted by:

4.1

Sat Jul 28, 2018 12:11 pm (PDT) . Posted by:

Distress is not due to the nature of nature but due to our disharmony with nature

Suppose we get a notification that the weather outside is freezing cold. If we still venture out without wearing any warm clothes, we will naturally feel afflicted. But is the weather the cause of our distress? No, we are; more specifically, our going out in that weather without warm clothes is.

The Bhagavad-gita (08.15) offers us a similar notification about the nature of the world we live in: it is a place of distress. Does that mean we all are condemned to live in distress lifelong? No, as is evident from the Gita's narrative – hearing its wisdom relieves Arjuna's distress by inspiring him to harmonize with divine will (18.73).

In fact, inspiring everyone to harmonize with divine will is the Gita's central message. It explains that we are at by our nature joyful beings, for we are souls, parts of the all-joyful supreme soul, God, Krishna. We can relish our innate joyfulness by lovingly harmonizing with him. Unfortunately, we are presently living in disharmony. Neglecting our divine connection, we are seeking worldly gratification and getting the consequent repetition of birth and death with its attendant distresses. These distresses are caused by our disharmony with our nature, not by material nature itself.

In fact, material nature is meant to serve as an arena for us to harmonize with Krishna. When we strive to serve Krishna and to use our material resources in a mood of service to him, we harmonize with both our spiritual nature and the purpose of material nature. By such harmony, we minimize much material distress, and we access a higher spiritual happiness that makes whatever distress is unavoidable bearable.

Rather than resenting distress or resigning to distress, we can strive for rising beyond distress by absorbing our consciousness in Krishna.

Think it over:

What is the purpose of the Gita's declaration that this world is a place of distress?

5.1

Sat Jul 28, 2018 4:04 pm (PDT) . Posted by:

Man is a mixture of daiva, danava and manava (god, demon and man). The wickedness of the danava nature can be overcome by daya (the quality of mercy and charity), sympathy and the feeling of fellowship; the pride of the daiva aspect can be overcome by dama (self-control), detachment, and renunciation; the egoism of the manava aspect can be overcome by following dharmaprescribed by the impartial sages who have been purified by penance, and by canalising their instincts and impulses into fruitful fields. When these three are thus sublimated, manava(man) is transformed into Madhava (God). Each one must take up this process of purification, by discovering his faults and failings and realise the road to success. If you have daya, dama and dharma (sympathy, self-control and righteousness), that will take you beyond the realm of the three qualities of the mind; there is no need then for getting a Name or mantra from the Guru and repeating it.